Mist in the Ripples
by Nickie Moon
Summary: The mist and dark grow strong, beware of those who don't belong... After the near fall of the four clans Thunderclan, Shadowclan, Riverclan, and Windclan, Starclan has decided to make a whole bunch of new clans all across the globe to keep the warrior code alive if the four clans are ever to fall. Rippleclan is born as the first, here's its story.
1. Allegiances-Warning! Incomplete!

_**Rippleclan**_

_Leader_

Ripplestar: black and white tabby she-cat with blue eyes and a long scar going down her tail (apprentices: Speckledpaw and Whisperpaw)

_Deputy_

Barkstripe: red and brown tabby tom with bright green eyes (apprentice:Eclipsepaw) **Father to Dreampaw, Amberpaw and Shadepaw**

Warriors

Hiddenshadow: jet black she-cat with bright blue eyes and barely noticeable dark gray eartips (apprentice: Amberpaw)

Loosetail: black tom with a white underbelly, white paws, orange eyes, and an unsusually long tail. (apprentice: Dreampaw)

Treefur: light brown she-cat with dark brown colorpoint markings and green eyes. (apprentice: Shadepaw)

Brownfur: light brown tom with dark brown colorpoint markings and green eyes. (apprentice: Dawnpaw)

_Medicine cat_

Moonbeam: very light silver she-cat with even lighter, barely noticeable stripes and twinkling very light blue eyes.

_Queens_

Mistcloud: silver tabby she-cat with yellow eyes **Mother to Dreampaw, Amberpaw, and Shadepaw**

_Kits_

_Apprentices_

Dreampaw: silver tabby she-cat with dark green eyes

Amberpaw: red and brown tabby tom with bright yellow eyes

Shadepaw: brown tabby tom with one green eye and one blue eye.

Dawnpaw: white she-cat with cream-colored spots and very orange eyes.

Whisperpaw: oddly light tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes.

Eclispepaw: calico she-cat with a majority of white spots with light blue eyes.

Speckledpaw: light brown speckled she-cat with green eyes.__

_Elders_

Sunstripe: orange tabby tom with a white belly and amber eyes. **Father to Dawnpaw**

Brightpelt: cream colored she-cat with very orange eyes and white eartips. **Mother to Dawnpaw**

_**Echoclan**_

_Leader_

Echostar: black tom with a white chest and chin and a scar shaped like a dog's bite mark on his rump. His eyes are a peircing green.

_Deputy_

Kestrelsong: brown she-cat with a bit of a gray overcoat and white undercoat and bright yellow eyes.

_Kits_

Brokenkit: solid black tom with bright yellow eyes.

Loonkit: dark gray tom with a white chest and bright green eyes.

Songkit: brown she-cat with a faint gray overcoat and white undercoat with dark green eyes.

_**Cats Outside the Clans**_

Snowkit: white loner tom with blue eyes and a long jagged scar going from the bottom of his right eye to the top-half of his right leg.


	2. Prologue

Finally, Silverstream had been asked to do something important, but she never thought that she'd be sending a dream to a fat kittypet laying down on a fluffy cat bed. This kittypet had her nails trimmed, a plump belly, and slept in an odd position on her back with her front paws in the air. Her black and white tabby pelt was shedding lots, so her thick fur probably hid a much plumper belly underneath.

_Let's just get this overwith... _Thought Silverstream _The skies above Starclan are never wrong... _

She flung herself into the kittypet's dream, using the traditional way of sending a dream to a kittypet. Making a mouse appear before her to make her hunt it. But, all the kittypet did was walk right past it, shooing it away.

_Now that's a first! _Thought Silverstream, while trying to tempt the kittypet with a juicy, plump rabbit. This time, she looked, but didn't try to get it.

That was when she remembered the words of the deceased Starclan member Spottedleaf.

"She won't be tempted by food, use danger instead."

This, Silverstream didn't want to do, for she could be killed in the midst of it. But this clan was needed so that the warrior code would never die! She sighed in her mind and made a tough-looking cat start advancing on a tiny kit. To her surprise, the kittypet rushed at him, and attacked in a flurry of tooth and claw.

"Many more are to be rescued, lead a clan, and follow the code..." Silverstream said in a voice that made the dream shake.

The kit, the tom, and the dream suddenly dissapeared, leaving a stupefied kittypet to wake with a start in the fluffy pink bed.


	3. Chapter 1

On a cold spring day, a tiny kit fully opens her eyes. _Ouch, _she thought as the light blinded her, and she mewed in protest.

For a moment, Dreamkit had seen the pelts of her brothers, Shadekit and Amberkit. But in another moment they'd zipped out of the nursery shouting "Mom!" so she couldn't get a good look.

Dreamkit looked around, getting used to the light that she'd only seen faintly when her eyes weren't fully opened. She got up and sunk her claws into the dirt below her feet, and threw it up, admiring the way it seemed to fly for a few seconds just above her. Then, the dirt fell down again, right onto her face.

Dreamkit sneezed and shook her head, shutting her eyes again for a few moments. When she looked up again, a huge cat was standing in front of her.

"Just when I step outside the nursery, how come I always miss these things?" the cat said, a purr rising into her throat.

_Wow! This cat is big!, _she thought in amazement. _It must be the "mom" my brothers were calling!_

"Big stream," Dreamkit said.

To Dreamkit, her mother Mistcloud looked like a big stream with her beautiful silver swirls.

"No Dreamkit, I'm not a big stream, I'm a cloud. I'm Mistcloud."

"Big cloud."

"Yes Dreamkit. Just don't forget the mist."

"Big mist cloud."

"Close enough."

Dreamkit then looked to her brothers, and opened her mouth to speak to them.

"I'm Shadekit."

"I'm Amberkit," they both said at once, not wanting to get mixed up in a conversation with their sister who just talked too slowly.

"Amberkit. Shadekit. Dreamkit." Dreamkit repeated their names and her own.

Now she got a good look at their pelts. Shadekit was a brown tabby, and if she'd ever heard about Tigerstar from the main clans she'd have compared her brother to the cat. But, there was an oddity about him; he had one dark blue eye and one dark green eye.

Amberkit, on the other hand, had a flawless red-brown coat that was well groomed and seemed almost to sparkle in the sun. With the light of the sun, Dreamkit could barely distinguish light brown swirls. She looked at his eyes, and both were both were the same shade of bright yellow. She felt a pang of envy for him, why didn't he get any kind of oddity like her brother?

"Why don't you two show her around the camp, and when your father gets back from his hunting patrol I'm sure he'd like to know the good news."

"Okay mama! Come on Dreamkit!" her brothers said simultaneously, and ran outside the nursery.

Dreamkit took about half a second to be confused, and then she just zipped out along with them, ready to see the world outside the nursery.

_Wow._

She saw tall green plants all around her, hiding the whole camp. But, even with the plants, it was even lighter outside than in the nursery. By now Dreamkit was used to light though. She looked up and left, and saw planks of wood going in a half-circle which she renamed the brown sun. Under it, she noticed two cats chattering together right under the brown sun. She quickly abandoned her brothers, curious about these two cats.

"Hi," she said, sitting behind them.

Both of them turned, a bit startled by the kit's sudden appearance. But they relaxed when they saw her. One of the cats, an orange tabby tom, whispered, "she's adorable!" to the other, a cream-colored she-cat. Then the tom opened his mouth to speak, but the cream-colored cat beat him to it.

"Hello little kit! What's you name?"

"Dreamkit."

"Hello Dreamkit!" now, the orange tabby cut into the conversation, "name's Sunstripe! This here's my mate Brightpelt!"

"We've been mates a long time," cut in the Brightpelt, "I could tell you the story of how we met, it's a really exciting tale!" she said with enthusiasm.

"Okay!" Dreamkit said excitedly, wanting to hear this tale.

But at that moment, Dreamkit's brothers came running to her.

"Dreamkit! We were so worried! We thought you drowned in the river or something!"

Dreamkit looked at her brothers, then the two cats. She wanted to hear the story! _Maybe another time, _she thought, and opened her mouth to say it. But she wasn't sure how.

"Bye," she said instead.

"I'll tell you the story another time then?" replied Brightpelt.

"Okay!" Dreamkit said to Brightpelt, turning to follow her brothers.

Dreamkit wrapped her tail around the stems of the plants she walked by, feeling the different shapes and sizes of the stems. She stared up every time they passed under a plant because a shadow would go over her. Sometimes, there wasn't even a plant over her when it's shadow would pass over!

"Dreamkit, why do you keep looking up?"

_Because of the shadows, _she wanted to say, but she again wasn't sure how.

"Amberkit, it doesn't matter, it won't do anything to her," Shadekit defended her.

After this, they just padded on silently for a few more minutes, and Dreamkit was wondering where they were going. The plants were closed tightly around her, and the camp was supposed to be like a clearing! She looked back to her brothers once, then looked down and continued, staring at the dirt beneath her feet. But eventually, she was too bothered by the question burning her, and decided to try and ask it.

"Where," Dreamkit tried to speak, "going?"

But as she looked up, she noticed that her brothers were no longer there.


	4. Chapter 2

"Oh well that sucks," Dreamkit said, copying something Amberkit said mockingly when Shadekit lost something.

She wasn't sure what he lost, but it must've been important to him because they got into a fight, claws unsheathed. Mistcloud came and broke them up, and they were being kept in the nursery an entire day to just talk or sleep. They talked to Dreamkit lots, and she'd learnt a few words and phrases during that time.

Instead of going back to camp, Dreamkit decided to look for her brothers and explore at the same time. But her main focus was to explore, and she decided to go towards the left.

It was boring to her being in the same plants, but quickly, the plants became taller and stronger-smelling. Dreamkit pawed at the stems which made little white fluffy things float down onto her nose.

"Flowers!"

She knew that word; it had been used many times by her clanmates, and for some reason she just felt she knew what they were talking about.

She continued, but stopped suddenly as she heard something moving in the tall flowers. _It must be a mouse_! Dropping into a hunter's crouch, Dreamkit followed the sound a few paces on her right. It wasn't a mouse though, it was a bird, and those are much harder to catch.

As Dreamkit came closer, she really took in the size of the bird. It was _huge, _even bigger than she was! She admired it's brown and white feathers with the dark brown dots, and contemplated the brown eye that glinted orange in the sunlight. It was busily pecking at something that Dreamkit wasn't sure of. So, she went closer to look.

Little did she know, that this "bird" was a hawk, and a juvenile at that. Not really used to hunting rabbits, mostly scavenging and catching easy prey. What he was eating now was a kittypet's carcass, which he'd found limping in the tall flowers.

As Dreamkit came closer, she noticed a bright blue studded collar.

_A kittypet! The hawk is eating a kittypet!_

Dreamkit gasped out loud, and backed away. She didn't know how dangerous this thing was, and that it could hear her even if it didn't look like it had ears.

She watched from behind the tall flowers as it rose it's head and stared at her with one beady eye, then squawked. Then, to Dreamkit's horror, it started to come towards her.

Dreamkit panicked and started to run. The hawk flew into the air, buying her a bit of time, but with frightening speed it plunged towards her, gliding gracefully, talons outstretched, ready to grab his prey.

A smart hawk wouldn't have glided down, for it was hard to stop suddenly if the prey did. A smart cat in this position would have stopped and turned around, letting the hawk glide away from it and giving the prey some time.

Looks like neither of these creatures were very smart, and the hawk had the advantage.

"Amberkit! Shadekit!" Dreamkit cried in pure desperation.

Nobody came to help, and the hawk was just about to grab the little kit in its talons. Before it could, there was a flash of white, and the hawk fell to the ground. Dreamkit skidded to a stop, having never seen this phenomenon. There was a flurry of claws, and feathers flew as Dreamkit watched the event with pure horror. A white cat with a long jagged scar running from the bottom of it's right eye to the top half of it's right leg then stepped into her view.

"Hi, kit."

The cat with blue eyes licked and cleaned itself like nothing happened. Dreamkit was confused, and walked closer to the cat.

"Aren't you going to answer me? I may be deaf, but I can tell when you're not talking."

"Deaf?" Dreamkit repeated the strange word.

"I can't hear, but I can tell what you're saying. It sort of vibrates, even my own voice. Augh! Why am I talking to a clueless kit! I guess I'm just lonely..."

For Dreamkit, this took a while to take in. It was hard for her to understand long phrases, but she could understand that the cat was talking to her about deafness, and insulted her. She frowned at this realization.

Suddenly, there was a loud caw, and the cat disappeared, coming back with a half-dead hawk that was still feebly struggling to get away.

"Wrong. Warrior code. That's wrong," Dreamkit explained to the cat.

"The warrior code? Hey! You're a clan cat from that new clan!" the cat suddenly bared his teeth, "this, is what I think of your warrior code!"

He smacked the bird with unsheathed claws, who let out a strangled cry as a few entrails splattered onto the ground. Dreamkit watched in horror as the cat flung it wildly about, blood splattering his pure white fur. She backed away, this scene continuing before her closed eyes. The cat offered the hawk a slow and painful death after it's skull was crushed onto a rock.

"Wrong! Wrong!" she chanted, hissing.

"I'm not afraid of you. You don't look intimidating in any way!" then quickly, his gaze softened, as if he remembered something.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It's just; I've had a rough past in a clan. They left me to die."

"Why?" Dreamkit asked, sitting down, fear leaving her.

"The clan cats didn't think I could become a warrior. They tested me, and I always had my back turned. I couldn't feel the vibrations, and they knew I was deaf. They said that I couldn't be a warrior, and I understood. But I didn't think they'd do something so terrible, as to leave me to die... One day, a hawk was circling above our camp, and everyone hid. I was left out there, feeling uneasy. And only as a looked up did I realize what they'd done. The hawk came down, grabbed my shoulders, and I was taken so far away... Here."

Dreamkit felt sad for the cat, even if he treated the warrior code like garbage. Even if he tortured the poor juvenile hawk. The blood and entrails were still on his pelt, but she almost didn't even notice. Still, she felt slightly uneasy about being near him.

"I'll take you back to your camp, I know where they are."

He got up and started walking, and Dreamkit followed. She didn't for once think that he'd kitnap her, nor that he'd kill her. He trusted this cat in his entire. There were still questions she wanted to ask though. She hoped she could find the right words.

"Why, warrior code, bad?" she asked.

"Because I've heard it so many times, and now that I rethink on it it's wrong. It will turn you into a twoleg, a twoleg! Doesn't it torment you that you cannot trespass on another clan's border, or kill them, while you despise them? And further, that you have to meet with those clans on the full moon and be expected to not attack them? Haven't you ever wanted to attack your food, play with it? You must have been resisting the urge for so long..."

Dreamkit remained silent, not sure what to reply. They walked in silence for a long period of time, until the cat piped up again.

"Isn't it horrible to stay in camp, while your nature tells you to go out and explore?"

Dreamkit nodded. Soon, they arrived in camp, and there was Amberkit and Shadekit.

"This is far as I go, goodbye," said the white cat with blue eyes.

"Wait!" Dreamkit shouted before he could leave.

"What?"

"Name? You name?"

"Oh, I never told you, did I? Snowkit, my name is Snowkit."

And then, the cat was gone.


	5. Chapter 3

"Dreamkit!" Amberkit and Shadekit ran up to their sister.

"Huh? What?" Dreamkit said.

Her father (whom she hadn't seen until now) and brothers came up to her, their eyes full of worry.

"Dreamkit! I was so worried about you! You're brothers here," she turned to Amberkit and Shadekit angrily, "abandoned you because they _thought _they saw a hawk!"

"Hawk? There was hawk!"

"See dad? She says so too!"

"Nonsense! You probably saw a normal bird! Now off you two go, I'll settle this later."

Her father then came up to Dreamkit, eyes softening.

"And you, you haven't seen me until now have you?"

Dreamkit took in her father's pelt; red and brown tabby markings, which to her looked like a tree.

"Big mist tree!" she thought. Her mother turned out to be a mist cloud; this cat was probably a mist _tree. _

Her logic did need some improving, but she was beginning to understand.

"No, my name's Barkstripe. I'm your father."

"Barkstripe?" Dreamkit was confused. The name was nothing like Amberkit, or Shadekit, or Big Mist Cloud.

"Now, run along now, you're mother's worried sick!"

He nudged her towards Mistcloud, who was sitting and listening to her brothers' wail about how Barkstripe didn't believe them that they saw a hawk and ran. Mistcloud was disappointed in them for abandoning Dreamkit, but as she came up showed not much worry.

"Dreamkit! These two abandoned you to a hawk?"

"We didn't abandon her!" protested Amberkit

"Yeah! We went to get help!" Shadekit said to support his brother.

Then, suddenly, a beautiful black and white tabby cat with dark blue eyes stepped out of a bush into the light. Dreamkit was startled by her sudden appearance, and the fur of her back stood up. Was it an intruder?

"Mistcloud. Sorry to interrupt you, but I just wanted to inform you that if they saw a hawk, it would be wise to stay under the bushes. Kits wouldn't lie about something like this."

"Oh don't worry Ripplestar, I was just about to."

_Ripplestar... _Something about the name made Dreamkit think she must be important. She looked at the cat with the dark blue eyes and studied her closely. Who was she?

"Hey Dreamkit, that's the leader of our clan, if you're wondering," Amberkit said, reading her mind, "I'm going to be like her when I'm older!"

Dreamkit looked at her some more, until Ripplestar finally turned to her.

"Hello, Dreamkit, Amberkit, Shadekit, I can't wait to have you as warriors," she said, and nodded in approval.

Then, the leader of the clan walked away.

"Come on kits, we're going back in the bushes if a hawk's out there."

It never occurred to Dreamkit to tell them that the hawk was killed; she just followed her mother into the darkness of the undergrowth on the side of the hill.

"Kits, you behave. I have to go talk to your father," said Mistcloud, and she just walked away.

Amberkit and Shadekit watched her leave silently, and Dreamkit looked at them. Why did they run away? They, all three of them, could have probably taken on a hawk. And instead they just run and let Dreamkit deal with it! What's up with that? Dreamkit pawed at the plants and nibbled on them, waiting for somebody to say something. Amberkit eventually managed to break the silence by sighing.

"Gee, she forgot about a punishment!" he said.

"Hey, you're right!" Shadekit replied.

Dreamkit sighed and walked away from them. She felt like she should get away from her brothers. She was angry with them, a new emotion that she was startled to feel. They'd left her to a hawk, and hadn't even apologized! Dreamkit ran towards the brown sun in hope of finding the two nice cats she'd met in the morning, not even hearing her brothers asking for her to come back.

Dreamkit ran blindly, but knew where the brown sun was; she figured that she'd find it eventually. Cats in the camp turned to look at her, but she didn't notice as she got closer and closer to her destination. Her spirit brightened at the sight of it, and she smiled.

"Hey Dreamkit!"

Dreamkit tried skidding to a stop, but failed and smashed into the golden she-cat with a white belly. Dreamkit scaled her up and down, to notice that she was much taller than this cat.

"I'm Dawnpaw! Where are you going?"

Dreamkit was just staring at this cat's super short legs. It couldn't be something normal! Dreamkit tried to make sense of it.

"Yeah, I know. My legs are short. You don't have to keep staring at them!"

Dreamkit suddenly felt ashamed, another new feeling to her. She looked up at this cat, wondering what to say.

"Going to the brown sun," Dreampaw explained, looking at the cat's eyes instead of her short legs.

"The brown sun? You mean the circle of wood? The elders are sleeping under there, you shouldn't bother them."

"Oh."

Dreampaw turned to go back to the nursery, as the sun was beginning to set and the shadows grew darker.

"Wait, Dreamkit! Do you want to be friends? I have no friends. Aren't you going to be an apprentice soon? I just became one yesterday, but you missed it. Because, you know, you opened your eyes late and all. How old are you?"

Dreamkit's head spun; too many words, too many questions, she only took in the last bit.

"I'm... I'm... Three moons old."

"Okay then, we can train together for a whole three moons! Then I'll be a warrior when you're three moons into your apprenticeship, and you'll have to train for three more moons, then you'll be a warrior with me! So you want to be friends? Oh, you don't look so good. Am I talking too fast? Cats get like that when I talk too fast. And I'm guessing you especially, because your mom said you have trouble learning... Well people think I have trouble learning too, because of my-"

"I want to be friends," Dreamkit said, cutting her off.

"Great! So we can be buddies, that both have trouble learning. Because, some cats say I can't be a warrior because my legs are too short to land blows. And I might have to be taught longer. Hey! Maybe we'll be warriors at the same time, because I might have to learn more because of my legs, but then-"

"Wait!"

"What?"

"I want to be an apprentice now!"

"You can't Dreampaw, because warrior code states that you must be 6 moons old to be an apprentice. And you're only 3 moons old. So you have to wait 3 moons to be an apprentice. But it's okay! I won't become a warrior any time soon and-"

"I will wait three moons, friend."

"Dreamkit!" Suddenly, a third cat broke into their conversation.

"Mommy!" Dreamkit exclaimed.

"Dreamkit, it's time to go to bed. We can see you're new friend tomorrow."

Mistcloud smiled at Dawnpaw, and wrapped her tail around Dreamkit to lead her back to the nursery. Dawnpaw waved a goodbye to Dreamkit, and Dreamkit returned it. Then, the kit and her mother walked off into the ferns, as Dawnpaw sighed, heading to her own den.


	6. Chapter 4

"Dreamkit, Amberkit, Shadekit. Please step forward."

The day had come when the three siblings were finally going to become apprentices. The time had flown by, and Dreamkit had managed to learn enough words to make full sentences. Here, she stood, and walked slowly beside her brothers just below the wooden path Ripplestar stood on. Ripplestar looked to the left, looked to the right, and continued.

"Dreamkit, Amberkit, Shadekit, you have all reached the age of six moons, and it is time for all of you to be apprentices. Amberkit, Dreamkit, Sh-"

"Twoleg!" a shout rang out from some of the gathered cats, and everyone jumped into the bushes and crouched as three twolegs stomped across on the path.

By the time the three had gone, everyone was a dirty mess, even the kits about to be apprenticed and the leader. Ripplestar got out from under a bush, climbed back onto the path, and cleared her throat.

"Anyway..." she said, looking to the left, and to the right, "Amberkit, Dreamkit, Shadekit, from this day until you all receive warrior names, you will be known as Amberpaw, Dreampaw, and Shadepaw."

"Amberpaw! Dreampaw! Shadepaw...?"

Every cat turned to look at an embarrassed Moonbeam, the newly appointed medicine cat of Rippleclan who was just getting accustomed to clan ways.

"Moonbeam, we don't cheer yet. Wait until I'm done," Ripplestar stifled a _mrrow _of laughter, and continued.

"Anyway," she sighed, "Amberpaw, your mentor will be Hiddenshadow. Shadepaw, your mentor will be Treefur, and Dreampaw, your mentor will be Loosetail."

"Hiddenshadow, Treefur, Loosetail, step forward."

Three cats stepped forward, one of which dragged his tail behind him as if it were too heavy to lift.

"Hiddenshadow, Treefur, Loosetail, you are all ready to take on apprentices. Hiddenshadow, having led the twoleg away at the peril of your safety, you are brave. I hope your apprentice, Amberpaw, will take after you and do many great things for our clan, Treefur, for when you and your brother found a plan to hide our clan from the twolegs, that took knowledge. I hope you will pass this down to your new apprentice, Shadepaw."

"Wait! I thought I was going to help train Dawnpaw with my brother Brownfur! We must be together oh leader," said Treefur, speaking in a way that was quick, and much different from other cat's way of speaking.

"Treefur, sometimes you will be away from your brother. But you will still be able to see him, don't you worry."

"Anyway, Loosetail, I trust that you can teach Dreampaw to fight and hunt despite her slow learning, as you have been able to with ease despite having no use of your tail. I trust you will pass down all your knowledge to her."

Dreampaw was aware of her slow learning abilities, and never took offense when somebody told her. That was a personality trait among Rippleclan cats; they rarely took offense. All three new mentors touched noses with their apprentices, and finally everyone could cheer for the cats.

"Dreampaw! Shadepaw! Amberpaw!" everyone cheered.

Dreampaw smiled and looked up at Ripplestar.

"Meeting dismissed," she meowed, and everyone got back to whatever they were doing.

"Hey Loosetail, Loosetail can I see the teary tori? Because I thought Silverstream said usually the new apprentices go see the teary tori first! Can we go see it?" Dreampaw asked, bouncing around her mentor.

"Dreampaw, it's the 'territory,' and I think that would be fine!" Loosetail answered.

"Let's go see the territory!"

Loosetail led her up the hill the camp was on, a place she had longed to go since she first saw it. But, it would have been too obvious that she was going up because she'd be in plain sight.

Soon, she got up, and though she expected a beautiful forest full of lush trees and sparkling meadows, she didn't see it. The lush forests were there for a while, but then, suddenly, they just stopped, to be replaced by twolegs and monsters.

There was a big thunderpath that she could see. Beside it were buldings and sparse trees. There were train tracks and a load of monsters zipping to and fro across the thunderpath, while twolegs on smaller monsters rode by on tiny thunderpaths.

"That's a train station, there are stores over there and those are cars. We live in a city, not thick woods. But we've got a big enough territory here so it's cool."

Dreampaw watched everything unfold. She didn't know if she was disappointed, or amazed. Silverstream probably didn't know about this! And the twolegs... They built it all?

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, followed by several jolts and earthquakes. Dreampaw was confused, and looked behind her.

She was staring at a huge, red monster.

"Dreampaw look out!"

"So Silverstream," said Ferncloud, way back at the main clans, in the skies above them, "how's the new clan?"

"Oh, they're fine. Nobody's dead yet, but that may be because there's no other clans," Silverstream replied.

Suddenly, another cat overhears the conversation: Hollyleaf, the Thunderclan cat who died in the Dark Forest Battle. _No other clans? That can't be right! _She thought, and decided to listen to more.

"Yeah, they've got it pretty easy out there. Too easy, I think. I'm a little suspicious, why did Spottedleaf want to make a clan there? She said every clan's going to face many challenges..." Silverstream started ranting, and suddenly noticed what she was saying. "Oh, sorry, I'm just thinking out loud."

"No, it's fine. I'm a little suspicious too, now that you tell me. If there's no other clan and no predators, how do they face challenges?"

"I don't know, but there must be something in store for them."

Hollyleaf didn't stay for the last part, but instead focused her whole mind on sending a dream to a cat around Rippleclan's land...

Meanwhile, two fight-scarred alley cats finally get to catch some Zs after a day of running and hiding. These two were named Mishka and Ronald, two well-known alley cats around their area. Even the Rippleclan cats knew about them, and even tried getting them to join their clan. The two said they were just about to find a home as kittypets, and regretted that decision to this day. Both of them wish they could join, but they didn't know how they could ask.

Mishka was pregnant, and Ronald was the father of the kits. They both stopped wishing for homes as kittypets, afraid of the kits being taken away. So they lived in the alley for the rest of their lives.

Ronald would never have expected that his life was going to take a twist for the best.

He woke in a strange, sunlit clearing, and saw a shadow walk up to him. It was a cat, a black cat with piercing green eyes.

"Hello, what's your name?" asked Hollyleaf, the cat with the green eyes.

"R-Ronald. Who are you?" Ronald replied.

"I'm Hollyleaf, a messenger of Starclan from the four main clans."

Hollyleaf knew now that it was too late to go back.

"What do you want?" Ronald was mistrusting, even in his dreams. What if this cat was a bad omen?

"It's not really what I want, it's what you want. Don't you want to join Rippleclan?"

"Well, yeah, I do, but..."

"Well I have something better for you. Why don't you start your own clan?"

"Wow! Me? Really?"

"You were chosen out of many cats to lead it."

"And what about my mate?"

"She can be the deputy. You must gather cats to join, and set up your clan. But I warn you, they won't let you have territory without bloodshed, you may need to convince them a little."

"I'm in, when do I start?"

"Right now! I'll explain the basics..."

"I've told you Mishka, we're starting a warrior clan! This is no joke!" Ronald was trying to convince Mishka that he wasn't lying.

"I don't believe you. Why would they choose us?" she said.

"Why not?"

"Because... It's too unlikely."

"That's not a reason. Look! I'll prove it to you, just listen."

"Okay..."

"The Warrior Code, in the exact words she told me."

"What! She told you the warrior code? We'll see about that."

"_Defend your clan, even with your life. You may have friendships with cats from other clans, but your loyalty must remain to your clan, as one day you may meet them in battle."_

Mishka still looked skeptical, so Ronald continued.

_"Do not hunt or trespass on another clan's territory."_

Mishka yawned and licked a paw.

_"Elders, queens, and kits must be fed before apprentices and warriors. Unless they have permission, apprentices may not eat until they have hunted to feed the elders. If any warrior or apprentice is sick or injured, they may eat while the elders, queens, and kits are eating."_

"So it really is true Ronald, you were really asked to start a clan!"

"Yes, and call me Echostar, leader of Echoclan!"

"What about me Ro- Echostar? What's my name?"

"You... I came up with a great name for you: Loonsong. In memory of our old home near that lake."

"Loonsong? I don't know..."

"Alright, I didn't think you'd like it. How about Kestrelsong?"

"I like that name."

"So that's our names! Let's go find a place to start it."

And so the two set out to find a place to gather a strong clan before forcing Rippleclan to share the territory.

"Dreampaw! Look out!"

Dreampaw turned and saw a huge red monster boring down on her, and was too stunned to move. Who told her to look out? She wondered. It surely didn't sound like Loosetail; it sounded more like Shadepaw...

As the huge smoking creature bored down on her, Dreampaw ducked low and held onto the racks for dear life. It was terrifying but exhilarating at the same time to be under that creature while it passed over her, not even hitting anything but her whiskers. Dreampaw yowled her fear, and the yowl got more high-pitched, to turn to more of a happy yowl. The wind on her fur, her ears being grazed by metal, she was actually enjoying this.

It was like being on a rollercoaster for her, except that she dared not open her eyes due to the dust flying everywhere. She was scared, but having fun. Dreampaw crouched lower and gripped the tracks hard, afraid that she'd be thrown off balance from the wind of this thing.

She was even getting bored. The huge creature kept on passing over for what felt like ages. She was totally calm when the last two objects of the long snake monster, and got up, feeling dizzy.

She could see blurred images of Shadepaw's shocked face and a crowd of cats surrounding her came to her eyesight. Dreampaw staggered around a bit, and finally collapsed in dizziness onto the still ringing tracks.

"Dreampaw! Dreampaw wake up! Don't die! Please don't die!"

Dreampaw could see Shadekit coming up to her and nuzzling her. She blinked open her eyes as the blurred images came to focus, and looked at her brother.

"I'm fine Shadepaw!" she said, jumping up like she had new energy. "Let's do it again!"

The crowd of cats around her blinked in pure amazement that Dreampaw was fine. Eventually, after a few questions, they all left, and her mentor came up to her.

"Dreampaw, I'm glad I could share that experience with you," he said.

"Wow! Yeah! I want to do it again!"

"No no, no more. They'll think I'm nuts if I'm with you and that happens again. How about we explore some more of the territory?"

"Alright!"

Dreampaw followed her mentor as he walked back down the hill.

"So, it used to be my job to find a new place for a camp. Now both of us are going to share that job, and we'll find a new place to set camp."

They walked past the camp and into a place full of lush plants and trees.

"Because in leaf-bare, this place is covered in snow and prey is scarce. Afterwards, when spring comes, this place is full of mud. It really gross, and most of us really need a new place to live. So today while I show you the areas, you should also keep a look out for a better camp area. That's our mission for today."

"Cool! Sounds fun!"

And the two dissapeared under a canopy of bushes and trees.


	7. Chapter 5

Dreampaw sniffed at every nook and cranny they passed, looking for a suitable place to have a den. She found a place that could've been good for a camp, but Loosetail told her it was much too close to the twoleg pathways. Eventually, Dreampaw was also taught how to collect moss, so on the way back she'd have a big bundle to give to the elders.

They continued to look around for a new camp until the sun was starting to set. At that point they were able to find a place that looked pretty promising for a camp, but before Dreampaw could check it out, Loosetail put his tail in front of her.

"No, we've got to go back before dark," he said.

"Why?" Dreampaw asked, confused.

"Because... There's this superstition, or a story really, and... We can't be out here when night falls. Let's get back, and hurry."

Dreampaw didn't argue, and followed her mentor as he walked speedily back towards camp. Dreampaw was excited to sleep in the apprentice den for the first time, beside her best friend Dawnpaw.

Soon, just before nightfall, the two arrived back at camp with their moss for the elders. Dreampaw made a quick job of setting it up for the elders before nightfall, and headed to the huge hole under the tree roots that served as an apprentice den, where Dawnpaw was already there, awake, and talking to her brothers.

"As soon as Dreampaw comes in I'll tell you- Oh, hi Dreampaw!" Dawnpaw looked up at her friend.

Dreampaw came in and picked a nest beside Dawnpaw.

"So, you guys exceptionally tired or anything? Cause' I've got a story that will make you shake all the way down to your claw tips..."

Dreampaw and Shadepaw's eyes grew wide, but Amberpaw just yawned and curled up.

"Alright, I'll half listen. Don't be offended if I fall asleep," said Amberpaw.

Dawnpaw shrugged, like she didn't care, and instead faced us with a the traditional look of starting a scary story.

"I'm going to tell you the story, of the Mist in the Ripples!" she whispered.

"A long time ago, when this place was a lot smaller, and there was only the one little town over the hill of giant smoke monsters, there lived two black cats. These two cats were very young, and not very smart, so one day they decided to try and convince a twoleg to give them a home.

They picked the wrong twoleg's home, for many twolegs were very superstitious at the time. They thought the two cats were signs of bad luck, and did not let them get into their home. The cats ran, and soon, the town began to be suspicious as these cats tried to get into numerous homes by scratching at the doors.

Eventually, the people decided to take action. The cats were taken, and they both thought they would finally get a home. But that wasn't what the twoleg intended.

'We must get rid of these witches at dusk,' the twoleg said, though the cats could not understand him.

Other kittypets would laugh at them, knowing what their fate would be without telling them. The cats would attack them, and laugh some more, and the two black cats were confused. Why were they being treated like this when they'd just gotten a home?

Eventually, dusk came, and the twoleg tied a stone to their necks and threw the stones into the river. The cats didn't know what was going on as they sailed through the air and struggled to swim with the huge weight of the rock.

'We have been tricked,' said the first cat, panting 'they never wanted to give us a home, they wanted us to be dead!

The stones eventually grew too heavy and dragged them down, down under the mist and the ripples, their bodies never to be found, ever again.

Since then, every night when the moon is at it's highest, cats say that they've seen two misty figures go over the ripples and search revenge on the cats that mocked their fate and hid it from them. They say if you're not in a den when they come out, and claw your eyeballs out and then bring you to the river, where they'll drown you, and nobody will ever know..."

"Aw that's a load of mouse fat!" said Amberpaw, but Dreampaw and Shadepaw looked afraid, but intrigued.

"You know anything more?" asked Shadepaw.

"No sorry, that's what my parents told me."

"Where'd your parents get the story?"

"From their parents. They said my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-gr andparents were there to laugh at the cats, and so I figured those ghosties would be after me, and my parents! But I'm going to slash them and get rid of them!" Dawnpaw made a slashing motion in the air as she said this. "Well, anyway, good night!"

Dreampaw, although she was afraid, fell asleep instantly after she said this.

_"Dreampaw... Dreampaw..."_

_"What?"_

_"Dreampaw, step off the boundaries of Starclan..."_

_"What? Why?"_

_"We'll make you strong..."_

_Dreampaw found herself walking away from a sunlit clearing towards a dark, shadowy place behind a border of light and dark. She was curious, and you must know the saying..._

_"Wait! Dreampaw! Don't!" yelled a voice behind her._

_Dreampaw looked back, and the voices pushing her towards the shadowy place instantly ceased. _

_"Silverstream?"_

_Dreampaw realized that she was staring at the sparkling gray tabby she-cat described by her leader, who had sent Ripplestar a dream when she was just a kittypet. _

_"Yes, that's me. Dreampaw, there isn't much time."_

_Suddenly, there were sounds of laughing and clip clopping of horses. Dreampaw looked around, and all she could see was a twoleg thunderpath stretching farther and farther away between cage bars._

_"Dreampaw! Listen!"_

_Dreampaw looked at the starry cat, now pressed beside her flank in a very small cage._

_"_The mist and dark grow strong, beware of those who don't belong..."

_And suddenly they were back in the clearing, except that it was much darker and foggier. Silverstream backed away into the mist._

"_Wait! Silverstream! What do you mean? Tell me more!"_

_From the stories Dreampaw had heard, the cats never came back to explain better. She just stood there after she wouldn't return, and waited to wake up._

_"Um, can't I w-"_

_Suddenly, Dreampaw was swept off her feet by a sticky river. She coughed out a sticky substance as she was shoved along, struggling to get out of the mass of sticky water. The taste was metallic, and then she realized it wasn't water, it was blood!_

Those Starclan cats sure want to prove a point here, _she thought, still struggling. _

_"Hey! Starclan! I get the p-"_

_She was engulfed in blood again, dragging her down. Holding her breath, she swam back up to the top._

_"The point! I get the point! Bloodshed, okay! I get it!"_

_And the river instantly ceased, leaving a sticky oozing apprentice stupefied and waiting to awaken from a dream._

_"Dreampaw! Dreampaw!"_


	8. Chapter 6

_"Why didn't you kill her when you had the chance!"_

"Wait. I thought we wanted her to join us!"

_"Yes, but it'll be better if she's the same as us."_

"No, it won't! Trust me, she's got to be alive for this. Plus, I thought she was going to get run over by the train!"

_"She has help... She will not die easily..."_

"What do you mean help? Tell me!"

_"Goodbye... You must not see us again unless you have something worth talking about!"_

"Dreampaw? Dreampaw wake up!"

Dreampaw groggily got up, still thinking the sticky blood was weighing her down.

"Dreampaw, you were moving around a lot and saying stuff in your sleep. You have a dream? Is it a prophecy? Huh? Huh?"

It was her best friend, Dawnpaw. How did her friend know that it was a prophecy?

"Because I had a dream too!" she whispered, "and you were murmuring, 'the mist and dark grow strong, beware of those who don't belong,' which is what SIlverstream told me, in my dream!"

Dawnpaw sure said whatever was on her mind!

"Yeah, that is what Silvery stream said to me too," Dreampaw finally answered her.

"We should go ask Moonbeam! She'll know what to do!"

Dreampaw for some reason though, didn't want to go see the medicine cat. Probably because she was still tired and wanted to just lie back down in her moss bed and think. But she didn't say anything, because it seemed that within a heartbeat Dawnpaw practically dragged her out of the hole under the wooden path that was the apprentice den and through the camp all the way to the medicine den by the ear.

"Ow, ow Dawn!"

"Sorry, and Dreampaw, don't use just the first part of my name. You know Ripplestar doesn't like that, says it's disrespectful."

"Okay... Then I will-"

"Moonbeam!" Dawnpaw cut Dreampaw off with a loud call to their medicine cat.

"Augh, what do you two want?" came the answer from inside.

"Well, I think we're going to be part of a prophecy! The both of us!"

Suddenly, Moonbeam appeared in the entrance of the hollowed out fallen tree and ushered the apprentices inside, telling them to be quiet.

"You aren't supposed to go yelling out a prophecy to every cat, you know! It could cause trouble."

"But Moonbeam! We had to come tell-"

"Yes, I know, you need me to decipher the prophecy for you two because I was the one to have the dreams with Starclan and stuff. Unlike the old clan's medicine cats, who would just sit there and wonder, I'm actually going to make an effort!"

Dreampaw and Dawnpaw just stared blankly at their medicine cat, unsure of what she was trying to tell them.

"Well? Tell me what you were told!"

"Oh! Um," Dreampaw started, racking her mind to put the words together, "I was in a place, with bright and dark, and some cat was making me go into the dark, but then-"

Dawnpaw butt in suddenly.

"Silverstream was behind me, and she was all 'don't go into the dark!' and I was all 'why?' and she was all 'there isn't much time' so then I was like 'why shouldn't I go into the dark?' because you know, the voices there said the could make me strong. But then she didn't answer and everything turned all weird like I was in a cage! and then she told me to listen, so I did, and she said 'the mist and dark grow strong, beware of those who don't belong' and I was all 'say what? Tell me more!' but then she was gone and then, poof! I was drowning in blood and when I was about to die it just disappeared and-" she took a huge breath, "I woke up."

Dreampaw nodded, confirming that she had the same dream.

"A river of blood huh? I heard they've given that type of dream to tons of cats. When I die and go to Starclan, I'll think of something less cliché," answered Moonbeam.

"But Moonbeam!" said Dreampaw, "can't you deciph- deco- figure out the mist and dark part of it?"

"Well, I suppose it could be talking about one of our cats, possibly Mistcloud, your mother, but we don't have a 'dark' in our clan," suggested Moonbeam.

"There is my brother Shadepaw, that is like dark," suggested Dreampaw.

"Dreampaw, Dawnpaw, was there mist in your dream somewhere? Dawnpaw, you told me that something was calling you to the dark. Maybe that's the 'dark' part," added Moonbeam.

"Well, there was a foggy clearing just before the blood started to drown me," Dawnpaw told her.

"Then that has to be it, 'mist' and 'dark' must be places, and the key to finding this prophecy should be cats in those places! They'll be the ones growing 'strong' and 'those who don't belong.' Won't they?"

The two apprentices nodded, jaws agape at how quickly their medicine cat could decipher this prophecy. If what Moonbeam said was true about other medicine cats, and it could be easy enough to figure out, why didn't they try?

"Dreampaw! Dreampaw, it's time for your hunting training! Where are you?"

"Losttail!" Moonbeam hissed.

Who was Losttail? Dreampaw was wondering. The voice outside the medicine den was clearly that of her mentor, Loosetail! And he was going to start her hunting training?

"Moonbeam! That's _Loose_tail. How come you keep calling him that? That's mean!" Dawnpaw frowned at the medicine cat.

"Oh. Well, sorry, but I've never taken a liking to him. We've had a bad past together," she said, snarling as if Loosetail was some kind of enemy, "but, Dreampaw, I suppose you have to go train. He's your mentor isn't he?"

Dreampaw nodded and stepped outside without any further talk.

"Dreampaw! There you are! Come on, we're going hunting!"

Dreampaw saw her best friend and the medicine cat frown at Loosetail for a minute, Dawnpaw's expression looking a bit confused. Padding through the light drizzle of rain.

"Loosetail, what are you doing? Everyone's in their dens, there might be a storm!" Brownfur and Treefur said simultaneously, seeing the mentor walk towards the camp entrance with his apprentice.

But Loosetail acted as if he didn't hear them, and padded right past with Dreampaw trailing behind. What was her mentor doing anyway? If there was going to be a storm, why was he taking her out? She decided not to question her mentor, and followed silently on the slippery ground.


	9. Chapter 7

"Dreampaw, don't listen to them. I know what I'm doing."

The two had been walking a couple minutes, and by then the rain had increased and every step was more slippery than the last. Dreampaw shivered, the rain starting to course into her skin, past her thick fur.

"Losetail, where we going?" she asked.

"You'll see." he replied simply.

Though Dreampaw didn't say his name right, Loosetail didn't mention it. They just continued walking for a couple minutes. To Dreampaw, they felt like hours. Through their walk the rain quickly became harder, soaking the two by the time they reached an area beside the lake.

"Here we are!"

Dreampaw looked out to what looked like the ground suddenly sloping down into a weird-looking type of ground that rippled and made rings wherever the water droplets dripped. As she stared, Dreampaw suddenly heard a low chirp. She looked up, and up on the branch was a frightened-looking bird that continued shaking its wings to clear water from them.

"Alright Dreampaw, I'm going to climb that tree and scare the bird right off it's perch. It looks like the rain weighs it down, but if I scare it it'll fly out. Since it's wet, it's start drooping and then you'll be able to get it."

Dreampaw's mind whirred and spun. Too many things to do, what was she supposed to do? It had something to do with a bird? She had to feed it? No, that wasn't right, maybe she had to find-"

"Go Dreampaw!"

Using nothing but a cat's instincts, for she had no training to help from Loosetail, Dreampaw ran, following the bird who flew so low. She stared up, not looking where she was going. As the bird fell into the river because of the weight of the rain, Dreampaw leapt after it, right into the water.

She was so confused during Dawnpaw's story about drowning, swimming, and the river. But now it all came clear to her. She had fallen in a river, she couldn't swim, and she was drowning.

She didn't even try to go up, she only held her breath and flailed underwater, waiting to find air somewhere, forgetting what was up and what was down. Dreampaw panicked and went in the direction she believed the air would be. Sadly, this only resulted in her going the wrong way and hitting her head on a rock at the bottom.

Attempting to mewl in pain, her mouth filled with water. Dreampaw felt like she was being crushed, and darkness seeped into the edge of her vision.

_The dark._

Dreampaw realized that this was surely what the prophecy had spoken of, but sadly, she realized, she would not be able to tell anyone about it.

"Hey guys, you saw those three new apprentices from yesterday?" Whisperpaw said, discussing with her buddies Eclipsepaw and Speckledpaw

"Three? I thought there was just one!" replied Eclipsepaw.

"Well of course you did. Whisperpaw and I thought so to, until we realized he had a brother and a sister," added in Speckledpaw.

"Yeah, Dreampaw's his sister. She's that no-brained apprentice that still sounds like a kit. His brother's got oddeyes," Whisperpaw said.

Eclipsepaw was grooming a paw, listening, and then spoke up. "That's a little harsh! It's not Dreampaw's fault Mistcloud delivered her headfirst onto a rock."

Speckledpaw, the quietest one despite being pretty opinionated, spoke up. "Stop being so harsh! She was born like that unluckily; it's nobody's fault. It might just be somewhere in her mother or father's family tree and she just inherited it."

"I still think Ripplestar should just exile her and be done with it," added Whisperpaw.

"Yeah, we've already got a big barnyard explosion of cat species going on here. We've got about every color code covered. Ha, I just made a tongue twister thing. But anyway, look at our clan, Longhaired, shorthaired, tortoiseshell, calico, colorpoint, light, dark. I say us lighter cats should get the higher ranks," replied Eclispepaw.

"Now, Eclipsepaw, be careful! Anybody could walk in at any moment. _You_ could get exiled even faster than the kit-app," warned Whisperpaw.

Suddenly, the three she-cats heard voices from outside and shut up. It was two male voices, so it had to be Amberpaw and Shadepaw. There were no other male apprentices in the clan.

"That Loosetail, he's crazy," Shadepaw was saying.

"Yeah," at this point both of them walked into the apprentice den, "taking our sister out in a storm! I wish we knew where she was. If I did, I'd beat the fox dung out of him," replied Amberpaw.

The three sisters stared as the flawless-coated tom walked in and sat on his bedding.

"So defendant of his sister! That's so sweet..." Whisperpaw, ironically, whispered.

"You think he thinks we're too old for him?" whispered Speckledpaw

"No way, it's only four moons apart," Eclipsepaw defended.

Shadepaw followed his brother and sat on the bedding facing him, then spoke. "I can't believe Ripplestar trusts him- Hey, Amberpaw? Look behind you."

Amberpaw looked back at the three she-cats, who shut up and looked at each other.

"Mouse dung, you think he heard us?" Speckledpaw whispered.

"Shut up! Talk about something else!" Eclipsepaw suggested.

Shadepaw couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, and luckily neither could Amberpaw. He just got crept out and looked back at his brother worriedly.

"You know what, I'm going to go get a drink of water from one of the leaves," said Amberpaw, walking out of the Apprentice den.

"Whoa wait! I'm uh- coming too!" Shadepaw whisked out of the den after his brother.

The three she-cats decided to peek out of the den to continue watching the good-looking Amberpaw, and so they did quietly enough.

Amberpaw in the rain was something else, they all were thinking. His fur was slick and shining to their eyes, and Whisperpaw nearly fainted each time he had to flip a short mane that was growing because it continued settling onto the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"I can just see us both leading the clan and earning respect," Speckledpaw was saying. She swiped the air with a paw at "respect," and continued, "among loners, rogues, alley cats, foxes, badgers, adders... Imagine those strong claws slicing through the throats of our enemies and getting them to high-tail it out of here!"

Eclipsepaw and Whisperpaw looked at their buddy, who just shrank back a little.

"Eh heh... You know?" she said awkwardly.

"One of us should go talk to him," suggested Eclipsepaw.

Whisperpaw and Speckledpaw looked at her like she was crazy.

"Or, we could just keep watching him like stalkers..."

Darkness clouded everything. She didn't hear, she didn't see; she didn't even feel the crush of having no air in her lungs anymore. Everything was over, everything was finished, and she couldn't tell her friend about the dark.

But then, all of a sudden, the darkness pulled away, and Dreampaw felt like she was rising upwards. Or was she being dragged down? She couldn't be sure, and so she struggled.

Also, the pressure from having lungs filled with water was gone. She was just peacefully holding her breath. This reassured her that she would get to the top unhurt.

She hit something soft and plump, and grabbed it in her teeth. Although she tried to bite it, thinking it would be an enemy, she only resulted in lightly grabbing it and pulling it up with her as everything went so slowly.

And then, she emerged out of the water and took in a huge amount of glorious, fresh, mud-smelling air above the water. While dragging whatever it was she caught in the water, Dreampaw swam easily to the still-muddy shore and came out dripping and freezing cold.

"Ha, Dreampaw! Not only have a just taught you to swim, but you've even come out with the bird!"

Dreampaw hadn't realized it, but she was carrying a drowned bird.

And it was completely dry.


	10. Chapter 8

The sky was lit up for a moment, and thunder was heard. Having never heard thunder before, Dreampaw cowered behind a tree with her bird. Loosetail chuckled and went up to her.

"Dreampaw calm down, its just thunder. It must be a long ways away," he told her to reassure her.

"Fox-length?" she asked, believing that this meant really far away.

"Yes Dreampaw, that far."

She got out from behind the tree and sneezed. She was soaked, cold, and her legs were coated in mud. Dreampaw just wanted to get back to camp.

"We done?" she asked.

"Yes Dreampaw, but we'll have to have a proper training session when the rain stops. I'd say about tomorrow."

She shook out her fur in hope of drying up a little, but the pouring rain just covered up the muddy river water. At least it cleaned up the mud that caked in from simply swimming in that dirty lake.

After walking for what felt like hours in the pouring rain, the two finally arrived back at camp. Amberpaw and Shadepaw rushed at their sister as Dreampaw sneezed another time.

"Hello! You guys are her brothers aren't you? She did a great job today in training, she caught a bird, and even learnt how to swim," said Loosetail, smiling.

Amberpaw arched his back and bared his teeth at Dreampaw's mentor, and spoke up, "You're crazy! What are you smiling about, crazy cat?" he hissed.

Dreampaw took a step back. She sneezed and noticed three she-cats behind him coming closer, wait, and make that four. Another cat just stepped into view, a black and white tabby. Ripplestar!

"Why, I ought to just claw your eyeballs out!" chimed in Shadepaw.

"Yeah! And then we'll feed you to the hawks-"

Suddenly, Ripplestar jumped between Loosetail and my brothers.

"That's enough! Shadepaw, Amberpaw, I will not tolerate death threats in my clan!"

Amberpaw looked neutral, while Shadepaw looked down in shame. The two turned around and headed back to their den.

"Apprentices, silly little cats," snickered Loosetail.

"As for you Loosetail, you will come to me before any future training session so that I may give you _permission _to go out. You're lucky we have a shortage of warriors, otherwise I'd give Dreampaw a new mentor!" she then turned to Dreampaw, "and you, you go get some feverfew from Moonbeam. You should be okay tomorrow. I'll take your prey to Sunstripe and Brightpelt for you, Dreampaw.

Then she walked away from Loosetail and his apprentice, heading towards her own leader's den. Loosetail glanced at Dreampaw, and then headed to the warrior's den.

Dreampaw caught the words "medicine den" and "feverfew" in Ripplestar's long speech, and headed over there. Hopefully, she was supposed to go to the medicine den and find feverfew. Sadly, she didn't even know what feverfew was! How would she know what it looked like? Perhaps she would ask Moonbeam for help.

Upon entering the hole of clay, Dreampaw marveled at how she kept all her herbs in different holes in the wall of clay. Dreampaw looked at each hole and searched for what she thought would be feverfew. She saw some red berries in one of the holes with little seeds in them, and decided to start with those.

She pawed them down to fall on the ground in front of her and wondered what to do with them. Did she squish them, then put them on her bellyache? Or did she eat them? It would make more sense to eat these, because she knew they'd land in her stomach.

She was just about to gobble up the delicious-looking berries, but a yell from Moonbeam made her stop.

"Dreampaw! No! You can't eat those!"

Moonbeam slapped Dreampaw in the face with a sheathed paw, which made her jump back from the shock. What was wrong? She was just looking for feverfew!

"Dreampaw, you can never, ever eat any berry without asking me first. Whether it's in my medicine store or in a bush. Why are you even..."

Though Dreampaw never noticed, she was still slightly shaking and sniffling. This being noticed, Moonbeam trailed off and walked up to her to examine her.

"Dreampaw, you need some feverfew don't you."

Feverfew! That's what Ripplestar had said! Dreampaw nodded vigorously.

Moonbeam headed a little farther into the den and pawed down some flowers that looked like daisies. She grabbed them in her mouth and headed towards me. She dropped them by accident once and almost tripped a couple times, and I wondered what was wrong.

"Moonie? You good feeling?" asked Dreampaw.

"Yeah, Dreampaw, I, Moonbeam, is just a little nervous because the next half moon is only about a week's time away. Sometime before that Starclan's going to tell me where the- Oh, uh, you eat the feverfew- where I have to go."

Dreampaw ate the flowers, then looked back up at her medicine cat. She was aware of the Moonstone and Moonpool from the main clans, and the whole clan wondered where theirs would be.

"I had a dream where they said they'd tell me before the next half moon. Oh Dreampaw, I'm so excited! It's going to be beautiful I know it. They'll find such an amazing place... Well, anyway, run along now back to the den. Hope you feel better tomorrow!"

Dreampaw nodded and headed out the den towards the apprentice den. She wondered what her brothers were up to in there, and why Dawnpaw hadn't come running to her too.

As she entered, she noticed that Dreampaw was in there, soaking wet like she'd been out for as long as Dreampaw had, maybe longer! Dreampaw was only beginning to dry off a bit.

"Great Starclan, Dreampaw!" Dawnpaw ran to her, "where were you? I couldn't find you or your mentor anywhere! I was out looking all day, and your brothers told me just when I came back that you were getting feverfew from Moonbeam! You have to tell us what happened!"

Dreampaw caught the last statement and headed to her bed, forming the story in her head and hoping she could say it right. She'd never told an entire story before, and this would be the first time that she did.

"So Ronald, I mean, Echostar. This is the place? An old twoleg den?" asked Kestrelsong, deputy and queen of newly formed Echoclan.

"Yep! We'll set up right here and gather cats. After our children, I mean, kits, are born, we'll take a piece of territory from Rippleclan," replied Echostar, the new leader.

"But isn't it suspicious how no twoleg lives in it? It must be dangerous or something," said Kestrelsong.

"We have no other choice! We're not starting a clan in an alleyway. That's stupid. And I've checked this place out and it's definitely the perfect spot!"

"But will my kits be safe?" asked Kestrelsong, getting the hang of the warrior lingo.

"Perfectly fine, as long as we keep them inside. When do you think you're due?"

"Well, I was going to tell you that, about a week ago, because..." she grimaced a bit. "Because they're supposed to come sometimes this week..." she flicked her tail over her belly, like she had a cramp.

Echostar looked alarmed. "Kestrelsong! Are you alright?"

She nodded, though grimacing in pain.

"Get inside!" he nearly yowled.

Kestrelsong tried to, but was only able to walk to the third broken step, where she collapsed and started to pant. Echostar quickly sat beside her and held onto her paw.

"I- Dearest mate... They're due today..."


	11. Chapter 9

_"Really Starclan, A rabbit running? You're going to make me like that Alice chick in the twoleg movie!"_

_Moonbeam sighed, but smiled. Cliché Starclan copying from other's ideas yet again. She laughed and skipped after the rabbit that she knew she'd never catch._

_Suddenly, the rabbit disappeared and then materialized Silverstream from joining beads of mist._

_"Moonbeam, you're no fun," she said, smiling._

_"If you wanted to watch me do something funny, you should have chosen your own ideas," Moonbeam replied._

_"Fine, how's this?" Silverstream's smile suddenly wiped away, and darkness clouded everything. _

_Moonbeam could see fine, but all she could see were black trees; black ground, and black leaves. A crow on a nearby branch, but something forward shined with a brilliance that made her go to it._

_"Alright, you win! This was unexpected!"_

_Moonbeam ducked as a crow swooped over her head, grazing the tips of her ears with its wings. She looked back up to see the light a couple minute's walk away go brighter, and headed over there, giving up on trying to talk to the Starclan cats._

_"You'd better start treating us with some respect, for we have enough power to turn the land to this," said a booming voice that was clearly not Silverstream's._

_"Ferncloud! What are you doing here? We don't have quite this much power! Stop scaring the medicine cat!"_

_Moonbeam paused. This was the first time she'd heard about Starclan members other than Silverstream. _

_"Well we can do it in dreams!"_

_"Shut up! You don't have authorization to be here!"_

_"She was disrespecting you!"_

_"No, she's actually kind of right."_

_"So you're saying Starclan _is _cliché oh contactor of the skie-"_

_"Shush! What if she's still... Oh yeah..."_

_Moonbeam let out those mrrows of laughter she'd held in the whole time. "What the hell?" she said amidst the laughing. "I mean, what the Dark Forest?" _

_The Starclan cats had finally shut up, and Moonbeam calmed down and headed back towards the brilliant light that she predicted was a shining gem somewhere over there. Beginning to be more excited about the destination, she quickened her pace. The nearer she got to it, the brighter the world became, until finally, she parted the branches and saw it._

_I gasped, reeling back in shock._

_It had to be a trick of the light, because that thing looked just like a monster, brown and rusted and sunken into the ground._

_"Is this some kind of sick joke?" asked Moonbeam, approaching the creature slowly, in case it awoke. She scaled the small hill and prodded it with a paw. Seeing as it didn't move, she hit it._

_And suddenly, the dreamscape started to fade. Moonbeam lodged that area into her memory to remember where it was, and awoke._

But here, Moonbeam didn't awaken. On the steps of a twoleg den awakens Kestrelsong, deputy and queen of newly formed clan Echoclan. Three little kits suckled as soon as she opened her eyes, her mate sitting beside her, gazing at them with love.

"Kestrelsong..." said Echostar, the leader of the newly formed clan.

"Oh, Echostar! Are all my kits okay?" Kestrelsong asked.

"Yeah. This little guy," he said, gesturing to a little black kit with a white chest, "fell on the broken step, but I picked him up so he's okay."

"Oh, we should name him Brokenstep!" suggested Kestrelsong.

"He has to have 'kit' at the end of his name, so, Brokenkit."

"Okay, that's fine."

The other kits, a she-cat and a tom, mewled as if in agreement. The she-cat, a spitting image of her mother except with green eyes, stumbled away from her and Echostar led her back.

"I want to name that one Kestrelkit, but that couldn't work," suggested Kestrelsong

"How about Songkit?" Echostar suggested.

"Perfect."

The last kit was a dark gray tom with a white chest.

"That one, I want to name Loonkit, as long as him warrior name isn't Loonsong," said Kestrelsong, licking Loonkit on the head.

"The first three clanborn kits, Loonkit, Songkit, and Brokenkit... They're beautiful Kestrelsong!"

Kestrelsong didn't reply, but began licking the kits, licking it the wrong way to warm the kits up.

"Ripplestar! Ripplestar! Starclan sent me a dream! The moon thingy! You can get your nine lives!" Moonbeam exclaimed, bursting into the leader's den.

Ripplestar hopped onto her feet from her laying position, being so shocked.

"What does it look like? Is it beautiful? Is it hidden?"

"Oh yeah... About that... Well, it's actually a monster. You know, like, a car."

"A car? Wouldn't a twoleg come get it?"

"No, it's all brown and rusted and weird-looking, but we can get inside and it looks so much bigger on the inside! And the walls shine bright!"

"A rusted car... Well isn't this a surprise? We'll call it the Moonmonster!"

"Great! Oh, Ripplestar, I get to come with you and see it too you know! Just us both, old friends from different homes!"

"Friends? We used to hiss and call eachother fat or lazy!"

The two she-cats giggled, but were suddenly interrupted by the unmistakable sound of Loosetail's tail dragging along the leaves.

"Sorry, should I leave you two alone in here?" he asked.

"Uh, uh, n-no, no!" stammered Moonbeam; "we were just, y'know, reminiscing about the past..." she trailed off awkwardly.

Ripplestar straightened herself a bit, looking Loosetail in the eye. He sighed, and didn't return that gaze.

"May I take Dreampaw out on a hunting trip near the lake?" he asked confidently, but clearly embarrassed. Moonbeam wondered why he had to ask permission.

"Loosetail, no. Take Dreampaw near the bridge, you two can hunt there."

"Fine, we'll be going to the bridge," he said, and turned to leave.

Moonbeam gave Ripplestar and inquisitive look, wondering why Loosetail had come in to ask the permission of Ripplestar to go out on a hunting trip.

"He nearly drowned Dreampaw yesterday, so I don't trust him anymore with her. Poor kit."

Ripplestar sighed.

"I should probably train my own apprentices too, tonight I'll announce everything to the clan."

The leader headed out of the den, leaving Moonbeam a bit disappointed. Dreampaw must hate Loosetail; Moonbeam hates him, now Ripplestar doesn't trust him. She felt an ounce of pity for a second, but then remembered she should not. Not after what happened.


End file.
